Improvement in wheel-fenders for railway-cars



0. E. BROWN. Wheel-Fender for Railway-Oars.

Patented July 22,1879.

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N. PETERS, FNOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WkSHINGTON. D C

UNITED STATES PATENT OEFIoE.

CHARLES E. BROlVN, OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN WHEEL-FENDERS FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 217,676, dated July 22,1879; application filed April 19, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. BROWN, of Salem, in the county of Essexand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements inSafeguards for Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to improve the construction ofsafeguards for car-wheels, so as to render such safeguards stronger andmore durable, more efficient in preventing accidents of various kindsresulting from the falling of persons or objects upon the track, andless liable to interfere with free access of workmen to the wheels andjournals for the purpose of testing and examining the same.

To these ends my invention consists in the improvements which I will nowproceed to describe and claim. v

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a car-truck provided with myimproved safeguard. Fig. 2 represents an end view of the same. Fig. 3represents a top view of the same. Fig. 4 represents a view of the innerside of the safeguard, showing the truck in section.

Similar letters of reference refer to like parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, A represents an ordinary car-truck to which myinvention is applied. B B represent my improved safeguards, one of whichis located on each side of the truck, as shown. Each safeguard iscomposed of a side portion or guard, a, curved and inclined endportions, 1) I), and a suitable supporting marginal frame, 0, to whichthe portions a b b are attached, said frame being adapted to be attachedto the truck A or other support, so as to hold the safeguard in theposition hereinafter described.

The parts a b b are of sheet or plate metal, and are attached to theframe 6 by any suitable means, preferably by riveting, excepting asection of the part a, which is preferably detachable, as hereinafterdescribed.

The frame 6 is composed of steel or wrought iron rods, and is ofconsiderable strength and stiffness.

The part a is located with its upper edge slightly below the axle-boxesof the truck, and extends downwardly and inwardly, so that its loweredge is in close proximity to and parallel with the sides of two of thewheels, and with the rail R, on which said wheels run. The side portion,a, is of uniform length from ,one end of the truck to the other, and inconsequence of its location exposes the upper portions of the car-wheelsW, as shown, and is entirely below the axle-boxes, so that it does notinterfere with the testing of the wheels and the lubricating of theboxes.

The ends of the portion a. are widened and curved to form the endportions or guards, b I), each of which is curved inwardly, so that itprojects across the rail B, extended or elongated in the direction ofthe length of the cartruck at its lower end, and extended upwardlynearly or quite to the triiclcframe.

The horizontal section of the outer surface of each portion 1) isconvex, and the vertical section is concave, with an inclination towardthe truck-frame from bottom, to top. Each end piece is thus adapted tooperate like the mold-board of a plow, and lift and push out wardly anyobject not of excessive weight that may be on or near the rail inadvance 'of the wheels, the lower edge of each end piece being close tothe top of the rail, and therefore adapted to remove any objecttherefrom that would be likely to damage or be damaged by the car. Theends I), which run to a liftingpoint, b, are particularly adapted tolift and remove without injury a person who may have fallen on or nearthe rail, the lifting action due to their rearward inclinationpreventing the person from being injured by contact with the road-bedand rails while being moved by the car. 1

It is obvious that the frame 6 is formed to afford a rigid support forthe portions to b I) of the safeguard and hold them in the positionshown. The frame is provided with lugs or cars l Z Z, which projectupwardly from the ends I) b, and are adapted to be bolted to thetruck-frame, and enable the safeguard to be readily applied and removed.The ends of the frame e are strengthened by truss-braces d, which extendfrom the lower to the upper portion of the frame, and are suitablyattached thereto, and are formed at their upper ends to bear against theunder side of the truck-frame, as shown in Fig. 4. These braces impart agreat degree of stiffness to the ends I), and enable shocks or jars onthe latter to be supported partly by the truck-frame. lhe ends of theframe are preferably further strengthened by diagonal braces d 01extending in different'directions, as shown.

It will be seen that the described form of the safeguard enables it tobe readily applied and removed without requiring any change in theconstruction of the truck and of the wheels and axles. The ears L L1 andtruss-braces d are adapted to be readily attached to and removed fromthe truck-frame, and make the latter practically a portion of the frame0 of the safeguard, thus imparting great strength and stiffness to thesafeguard.

I prefer to make a section, a of the side portion, a, removable, so thatan opening may be made in the side of the safeguard for any purpose thatmay be desired. To this end I I do not limit myself to the applicationof my improved safeguard to car-trucks, as it may be adapted tolocomotives without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim as my invention- The improved safeguard for cars, consisting ofthe marginal supporting-frame 0, having the cars l, the truss-braces d,attached to the frame by means of the ears, the concavo-convex portionb, extending to a lifting-point, b, and cut away so as to form theportion a, these parts being rigidly attached to thetruss-braces, andthe movable portion 60, attached to the frame a by the hooks an,arranged as shown, 7

and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES ERASTUS BROWN.

Witnesses OHAs. E. HOAG, HENRY A. BROWN.

